Leader arrested for attacking scribe months ago

Kendrapada, August 24 (Odisha.in) Narayan Chandra Haldar the president of the Orissa Traditional Fish Workers’ Union(OTFWU) was arrested by the police on Friday on the charges of assaulting a vernacular journalist , Samarendra Mahali on 14th, December , 2006 .

A fisherman, Vikash Biswas was shot dead last year while the deceased fishermen along with other fishermen were fishing in the sea.

Narayan led large number of fishermen to protest against the killing of a fisherman in front of the Ramanagar police outpost on 14th, December last year.

Some agitated fishermen had allegedly assaulted Samarendra Mahali a reporter of ‘Sambad’ an Oriya vernacular daily after he termed the deceased as an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh and justified the killing of the fisherman, officer in charge of Mahakalapada police station Rashm Ranjan Sahoo told Odisha.in.

Later, the reporter filed complaint against Haldar and six other persons in the Mahakalapada police station on 14th, December last year.

Police arrested Haldar in that case and produced him in the court of Sub- Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) at Kendrapada Friday, he said.

The court has rejected his bail application and remanded Haldar into jail custody. Meanwhile, the journalist has filed an affidavit in the court seeking withdrawal of his complaint stating that the matter has been settled.

Narayan Haldar is also the Sarapanch of Kharinashi Gram Panchayat and belongs to Congress party.